Witch Blood

Summary - The second in the Elemental Witch series. Since her sister was killed by a demon, Isabelle has been on the hunt for the warlock who called it. Her hunt leads her into the path of Thomas, the head of the Coven. After they catch the warlock by working together they decide to hunt the demon, and of course there is strong sexual tension between them.

What I liked - As with the first in this series I liked the style of Ms. Bast's sexy steamy writing, another great witch story.

What I didn't like - There was one scene, where Isabelle talks to her mother, that I think was omitted, which is a small thing considering it is talked about later in the book, other than that very good. 55/1000

Maybe it's because I read so much paranormal fiction and have a lot to compare her to, but this series of Bast's, while decent, is definitely not something I would put near the top of a list of authors or series' I'd recommend to friends.

First of all, the ending was disappointing for me. Without giving any spoilers, I felt that Bast just ran out of energy, or couldn't come up with anything else to really wrap up the story in a way that resolved where she had built it up to. One minute there's danger and the next minute everybody's living happily ever after. For me there should have been a more thorough wrap up.

Secondly, it seems like Bast has a serious fascination with dominant/submissive sex as all the female characters we've met so far have been happily accepting the submissive role to the male witches they get involved with. In Witch Fire, that was fine because Mira was in a submissive place having not known she was a witch and having just come out of a bad marriage. However, Isabelle is a very different woman and I chafed a little at how submissive she was with Thomas - it just didn't ring true for me.

That said, the storyline in this book was much more interesting to me than the one in Witch Fire. I really enjoyed learning more about the history between the witches and the demons and the mentions about all the historical information Isabelle was collecting with Micah near the end makes me hope that there will be more about the world they live in in future books.

Like I said, this isn't my favourite paranormal series, but it's a good read with likeable characters and interesting plots, and I will read other books in this series.

I liked this second book in Bast's Elemental Witches series better than the first. While still following the romantic formula of boy, girl, obstacle to be surmounted, happy ending, there were a few red herrings thrown in so that it turned out to be not quite as predictable as I thought. This time round it is Thomas' and Isabelle's story. Isabelle, a water witch, has lost her sister to a demon called forth by the Duskoff Cabal (the bad guys). Bent on revenge and since she can't find the demon, she goes after Stefan the new leader of the cabal. Thomas, an earth witch, is the leader of the Coven (the good guys). He and his team are also after Stefan. When they crash (literally) Isabelle's trap for Stefan and scoop up her prize, she decides to work with them to help catch the demon. Although vengeance is her number one goal, it doesn't hurt that Thomas is so darn sexy, or that water and earth have a natural affinity (hey, I only said it wasn't TOTALLY predictable).

For the most part, I liked Isabelle as the heroine of the book. She is feisty, sarcastic, and isn't afraid to acknowledge how she feels and act on it. Thomas wasn't bad either (how can you not like a sexy, male witch with abs of steel?), but we don't get to learn as much about his character as we do Isabelle's. It's a hot, sexy read as the romance between Thomas and Isabelle develops throughout the course of the book. Although like me, you will probably just want to shake Isabelle when she tries to cool things off because she is afraid of commitment.

My main problem with the first book in the series (Witch Fire) was that there wasn't enough information about the witches and their world. This time Bast does a good job of filling in some more details making things much more interesting. She also introduces a few more characters so that it doesn't feel like the only thing going on is the romance between two main characters. Although the ending seemed a bit rushed, it will leave you satisfied. There is also an interesting twist near the end that will open up more possibilities for future books in the series.

If you are a fan of Bast and the first book in the series, I'm sure you will enjoy this one too. Although you could probably get away with reading this book as a stand-alone story, I would recommend you start at the beginning with Witch Fire.

Once again Anya Bast delivers another great novel. This one with almost non stop action. Another good sexy read. The characters were just as well developed in this as they were in the first. But despite the fact that she upped the action quota in this novel, Witch Fire will still always be my favourite. Best in the series so far in my opinion. Jack just won me over far more then Thomas did.
All in all though, a good read and another great write by Anya Bast. Can't wait for the third…